Information providing method and information providing vehicle therefor

ABSTRACT

A method of providing information about a predetermined external vehicle on a transparent display of an information providing vehicle, the method including: acquiring status information of the external vehicle; determining a display mode for displaying an object corresponding to the external vehicle based on the acquired status information; and displaying the object corresponding to the external vehicle on the transparent display in the determined display mode, wherein the display mode may include an augmented reality mode displaying an image obtained by overlaying a virtual image on an actual image of the external vehicle that is observed through the transparent display, and a map mode displaying the object corresponding to the external vehicle after mapping the object to a map.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/015,609, filed on Aug. 30, 2013, in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice, which claims priority from Korean Patent Application No.10-2012-0096705, filed on Aug. 31, 2012, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein intheir entireties by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Methods and apparatuses consistent with the exemplary embodiments relateto an information providing method which displays images correspondingto information about an environment inside or outside a vehicle on atransparent display in the vehicle, and an information providing vehicletherefor.

2. Description of the Related Art

Research related to vehicles in the past concentrated on improvingdriving speed that is an inherent performance characteristic of vehiclesand fuel efficiency. However, recent researches into vehicles have givena lot of weight to improving driver convenience and safety. Also, safetycomponents such as seat belts, airbags, shock absorbing bodies, etc. arewidely distributed, and impact tests are widely performed so that safetyconsciousness has improved. However, these safety components are passiveways for reducing damage after traffic accidents occur.

Therefore, an information providing system that enables a driver toclearly recognize necessary information while driving or to obtaininformation about the environment inside and outside the vehicle andthat prevents accidents from occurring due to negligence of the driveris necessary.

SUMMARY

The exemplary embodiments provide an information providing method whichprovides a driver with useful information by displaying informationabout an environment inside and outside a vehicle, which is collected bythe vehicle, on a transparent display in the vehicle, and an informationproviding vehicle therefor.

The exemplary embodiments also provides an information providing methodwhich allows a driver to recognize environmental information rapidlywithout having to turn his/her eyes away by displaying informationcollected from non-visible ranges of the driver on the transparentdisplay, and an information providing vehicle therefor.

According to an aspect of the exemplary embodiment, there is provided amethod of providing information about a predetermined external vehicleon a transparent display of a vehicle, the method including: acquiringstatus information of the external vehicle; determining a display modefor displaying an object corresponding to the external vehicle based onthe acquired status information; and displaying the object correspondingto the external vehicle on the transparent display in the determineddisplay mode, wherein the display mode may include an augmented realitymode displaying an image obtained by overlaying a virtual image on anactual image of the external vehicle that is observed through thetransparent display, and a map mode displaying the object correspondingto the external vehicle after mapping the object to a map.

The status information of the external vehicle may include at least oneof location information of the external vehicle, route information,driving speed information, stoppage status information, used trafficlane information, and turning light manipulation status information.

The acquiring of the status information of the external vehicle mayinclude receiving the status information from the external vehicle via apredetermined network.

The determining of the display mode may be performed based on a distancebetween the vehicle and the external vehicle.

The determining of the display mode may include determining theaugmented reality mode as the display mode when the distance between thevehicle and the external vehicle is less than a predetermined distance,and determining the map mode as the display mode when the distancebetween the vehicle and the external vehicle is equal to or greater thanthe predetermined distance.

The predetermined distance may include a visible distance, in which adriver of the vehicle may see the external vehicle with his/her nakedeyes.

The displaying of the object corresponding to the external vehicle mayinclude: when the augmented reality mode is determined as the displaymode, recognizing the external vehicle by using a camera based on atleast one of outer appearance information and plate number informationof the external vehicle; and displaying the object corresponding to theexternal vehicle on the transparent display so that the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle may overlap the actual image ofthe external vehicle.

The recognizing of the external vehicle may include: selecting aplurality of candidate vehicles that are recognized through the camerabased on at least one of the outer appearance information and the platenumber information; and recognizing the external vehicle from among theplurality of candidate vehicles based on eye information of the driveror input information of the driver.

The displaying of the object may include displaying at least one ofroute information, driving speed information, stoppage statusinformation, used traffic lane information, and turning lightmanipulation status information of the external vehicle.

The status information of the external vehicle may include relativestatus information of the external vehicle based on the informationproviding vehicle. The status information of the external vehicle mayinclude at least one of relative speed, relative location, and relativedistance information.

The displaying of the object may include displaying the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle on the transparent display aftermapping the object to the map, when the map mode is determined as thedisplay mode.

The displaying of the object after mapping may include changing a scaleof the map based on a distance between the vehicle and the externalvehicle.

The displaying of the object may include changing at least one of asize, a displaying interval, and a color of the object corresponding tothe external vehicle based on a distance between the vehicle and theexternal vehicle.

The displaying of the object corresponding to the external vehicle mayinclude: recognizing a location of the driver's eyes; and adjusting adisplay location or an angle of the object corresponding to the externalvehicle, based on the location of the driver's eyes.

The external vehicle may include a vehicle having a cross-certificatefor exchanging the location information with the vehicle.

The method may further include: receiving identification information ofthe external vehicle from the driver; requesting the external vehicle toexchange location information based on the identification information ofthe external vehicle; and receiving an acceptance message with respectto the request for exchanging the location information from the externalvehicle.

The method may further include acquiring illuminance information fromoutside of the vehicle or illuminance information according to adirection of the driver's eyes.

The method may further include adjusting the transparency of thetransparent display based on the illuminance information outside of thevehicle or the illuminance information obtained according to thedirection of the driver's eyes.

The method may further include changing a color of the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle and displaying the object, basedon the illuminance information outside the vehicle or the illuminanceinformation obtained according to the direction of the driver's eyes.

The method may further include receiving and displaying informationprovided by a navigation device of the external vehicle from theexternal vehicle.

The method may further include: when a remaining fuel level of thevehicle is equal to or less than a predetermined level, searching for agas station that the vehicle may reach with the remaining fuel; anddisplaying information about a found gas station on the transparentdisplay.

The displaying of the information about the found gas station mayinclude displaying an object corresponding to the gas station andoverlapping the object with an actual image of the found gas station,when the found gas station is recognized by the camera.

The method may further include: acquiring information regarding theoccurrence of a defect with regard to the vehicle; searching for a carrepair shop where a defective part may be repaired, based on the defectoccurrence information; and displaying information about a found carrepair shop on the transparent display.

The method may further include displaying an image corresponding to atleast one of information about a location where an accident occurs,information regarding the time that an accident occurred, informationregarding the traffic lane where an accident occurred, and detourinformation on the transparent display.

According to another aspect of the exemplary embodiment, there isprovided an information providing vehicle for providing informationabout a predetermined external vehicle on a transparent display, theinformation providing vehicle including: a status recognition deviceconfigured to acquire status information of the external vehicle; acontroller configured to determine a display mode configured to displayan object corresponding to the external vehicle, based on the acquiredstatus information; a transparent display configured to display theobject corresponding to the external vehicle in the determined displaymode, wherein the display mode may include an augmented reality modedisplaying an image obtained by overlaying a virtual image on an actualimage of the external vehicle that is observed through the transparentdisplay, and a map mode displaying the object corresponding to theexternal vehicle after mapping the object to a map.

The status recognition device may receive the status information fromthe external vehicle via a predetermined network.

The controller may determine the display mode based on a distancebetween the information providing vehicle and the external vehicle.

The controller may determine the augmented reality mode as the displaymode when the distance between the information providing vehicle and theexternal vehicle is less than a predetermined distance, and determinethe map mode as the display mode when the distance between theinformation providing vehicle and the external vehicle is equal to orgreater than the predetermined distance.

The predetermined distance may include a visible distance, in which adriver of the vehicle may see the external vehicle with his/her nakedeyes, and the controller may adjust the visible distance based on atleast one of weather information, illuminance information, and humidityinformation.

The status recognition device may recognize the external vehicle througha camera based on at least one of outer appearance information of theexternal vehicle and plate number information, when the augmentedreality mode is determined as the display mode, and the transparentdisplay may display the object corresponding to the external vehicle andoverlaps the object with an actual image of the external vehicle.

The status recognition device may select a plurality of candidatevehicles that are recognized through the camera based on at least one ofthe outer appearance information and the plate number information; andrecognize the external vehicle from among the plurality of candidatevehicles based on eye information of the driver or input information ofthe driver.

The transparent display may display at least one of route information,driving speed information, stoppage status information, used trafficlane information, and turning light manipulation status information ofthe external vehicle.

The transparent display may display the object corresponding to theexternal vehicle on the transparent display after mapping the object tothe map, when the map mode is determined as the display mode.

The controller may change a scale of the map based on a distance betweenthe information providing vehicle and the external vehicle.

The transparent display may change at least one of a size, a displayinginterval, and a color of the object corresponding to the externalvehicle based on a distance between the information providing vehicleand the external vehicle.

The status recognition device may recognize a location of the driver'seyes, and the transparent display may adjust a display location or anangle of the object corresponding to the external vehicle, based on thelocation of the driver's eyes.

The status recognition device may include: a user input for receivingidentification information of the external vehicle from the driver; anda communication device requesting the external vehicle to exchangelocation information with the information providing vehicle, andreceiving an acceptance message with respect to the request forexchanging the location information from the external vehicle.

The status recognition device may acquire illuminance informationoutside the information providing vehicle or illuminance informationaccording to a direction of the driver's eyes.

The controller may adjust transparency of the transparent display basedon the illuminance information outside the information providing vehicleor the illuminance information according to the direction of thedriver's eyes.

The transparent display may change a color of the object correspondingto the external vehicle and displays the object, based on theilluminance information outside the information providing vehicle or theilluminance information according to the direction of the driver's eyes.

The transparent display may receive and display information provided bya navigation device of the external vehicle from the external vehicle.

When a remaining fuel level of the vehicle is equal to or less than apredetermined fuel level, the controller may search for a gas stationthat the vehicle may reach with the remaining fuel, and the transparentdisplay displays information about a found gas station.

The transparent display may display an object corresponding to the foundgas station and overlap the object with an actual image of the found gasstation, when the found gas station is recognized by the camera.

The status recognition device may acquire information regarding theoccurrence of a defect in the vehicle, the controller searches for a carrepair shop in which a defective part may be repaired, based on thedefect occurrence information, and the transparent display may displayinformation about a found car repair shop.

The transparent display may display an image corresponding to at leastone of information about a location where an accident occurs,information regarding the time that the accident occurred, informationregarding a traffic lane in which the accident occurred, and detourinformation on the transparent display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects of the exemplary embodiments will becomemore apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof withreference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an information providing system according toan exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 2A through 2C are diagrams illustrating a communication method ofan information providing vehicle, according to an exemplary embodimentwith external vehicles;

FIG. 3A is a block diagrams of an information providing vehicleaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a transparentdisplay according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an information providing methodperformed via a transparent display, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an information providing methodaccording to display modes, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing informationabout an external vehicle that has a cross-certificate for exchanginglocation information with the information providing vehicle, accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an object corresponding to an externalvehicle in an augmented reality mode, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flashing interval for displaying anidentification mark, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are diagrams showing examples of an identification markformed as an image corresponding to the external vehicle, according toan exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing an object corresponding to theexternal vehicle in a map mode, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a screen providing information about theexternal vehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing destinationguide information, accident information of other vehicles, and trafficstatus information, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a screen displaying an image correspondingto accident information of another vehicle, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen mapping the accident informationof the other vehicle to a map;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an information providing methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing informationabout something that is invisible to the driver through the transparentdisplay, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 18 and 19 are diagrams showing a screen displaying roadinformation on an obstacle, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing informationabout a gas station, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a screen displaying information about a gasstation located at a distance from the driver that makes it invisible tohim/her, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 22A and 22B are diagrams showing information about an essentialgas station;

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing an imagecorresponding to defect information regarding the vehicle, according toan exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a screen displaying information about adefective part of the vehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a screen displaying information about a carrepair shop, according to an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Terms used herein will be briefly described, and exemplary embodimentswill be described in detail below.

General and widely-used terms have been employed herein, inconsideration of functions provided in the exemplary embodiments, andmay vary according to an intention of one of ordinary skill in the art,a precedent, or emergence of new technologies. Additionally, in somecases, an applicant may arbitrarily select specific terms, in whichcase, the applicant will provide the meaning of the terms in thedescription of the exemplary embodiments. Accordingly, It will beunderstood that the terms used herein should be interpreted as having ameaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of therelevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,”“includes,” and/or “including,” when used herein, specify the presenceof components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one ormore other components, unless otherwise specified. Additionally, termsused herein, such as ‘unit’ or ‘module’, mean entities for processing atleast one function or operation. These entities may be implemented byhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

The exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. The exemplary embodiments may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as being limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. In the description of theexemplary embodiments, certain detailed explanations of the related artare omitted when it is deemed that they may unnecessarily obscure theessence of the exemplary embodiments. Like numbers refer to likeelements throughout the description of the figures. As used herein, theterm “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. Expressions such as “at least one of,” whenpreceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and donot modify the individual elements of the list.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an information providing system according toan exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing system according to thepresent exemplary embodiment may include an information providingvehicle 100, another vehicle 200, a mobile terminal 300, a base station400, and a server 500.

The information providing vehicle 100 according to the present exemplaryembodiment is a vehicle including a transparent display for providinginformation. The transparent display is an information display apparatushaving a transparent screen, on which information is displayed, so thata view behind the screen is projected therethrough. The transparentdisplay is formed of a transparent device, and transparency of thetransparent device may be adjusted by controlling a light transmittanceof the transparent device or an RGB value of each pixel.

The information providing vehicle 100 may include various types ofvehicles. For example, the information providing vehicle 100 may be asmall car, a midsize car, a full-size car, or a specialized vehicle, andmay include a sedan, a van, a truck, a bus, or a cargo vehicle, but isnot limited thereto.

The information providing vehicle 100 according to the present exemplaryembodiment may acquire environmental information regarding the vehicle.The environmental information regarding the vehicle may include vehicleinformation that is regularly detected (for example, velocity of thevehicle, traffic lane, a temperature in the vehicle, humidity of thevehicle, a status of tires, engine status, etc.), information about adriver (information about location of the driver's eyes, drowsinessstatus information, alcohol level status information, information aboutmobile terminal usage, etc.), unexpected accidents occurring in thevehicle (for example, generation of defects in the vehicle, lack offuel, accident occurrence, etc.).

Also, the information providing vehicle 100 according to the presentexemplary embodiment may acquire information about the environmentoutside the vehicle. For example, the information providing vehicle 100may perform a wired or wireless communication with the another vehicle200, the mobile terminal 300, the base station 400, and the server 500to acquire the information about the environment outside the vehicle.

The information about the environment outside the vehicle may beinformation about events occurring outside the vehicle, for example,information received from external devices (for example, locationinformation of the other vehicle 200, speed of the other vehicle 200,traffic lane of the other vehicle 200, and an indicator light status ofthe other vehicle 200), background information within a predetermineddistance (building information, information about other vehicles,weather information, illumination information), accident information ofthe other vehicle 200, and traffic condition information.

The other vehicle 200 according to the present exemplary embodiment mayprovide the information providing vehicle 100 with information via avehicle to vehicle communication network (for example, IEEE 802.11pWAVE). For example, the other vehicle 200 may transmit driving speedinformation, stoppage status information, current location information,lane information, accident information, etc. to the informationproviding vehicle 100. Here, the other vehicle 200 may transmit theinformation upon receiving a request from the information providingvehicle 100, or may transmit the information within a predeterminedperiod to the information providing vehicle 100.

The mobile terminal 300 may communicate with the information providingvehicle 100 wirelessly. The mobile terminal 300 according to the presentexemplary embodiment may exist in the information providing vehicle 100,and may provide the information providing vehicle 100 with theinformation.

In addition, the information providing vehicle 100 according to thepresent exemplary embodiment may communicate with the other vehicle 200,a mobile terminal of a driver of the other vehicle 200, the base station400, and the server 500 via the mobile terminal 300. The mobile terminal300 according to the present exemplary embodiment may be realized invarious types. For example, the mobile terminal 300 may be a mobilephone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a tablet PC, an electronic bookterminal, a digital broadcasting terminal, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), or a navigation device;however, the exemplary embodiments are not limited thereto.

The base station 400 may include a roadside unit (RSU) that is installedon a road side. The base station 400 receives a service request from theinformation providing vehicle 100 when entering a communication range ofthe base station 400, and may provide the information providing vehicle100 with a service corresponding to the request.

For example, the base station 400 may provide the information providingvehicle 100 with location information or accident information of theother vehicle 200, real-time traffic information, a digital map, movies,and music. Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may broadcastaccident information thereof via the base station 400.

The server 500 may search for information relating to the statusinformation collected by the information providing vehicle 100 andprovide the information providing vehicle 100 with a result of thesearching. For example, the server 500 may search for articles relatingto accident information of other vehicles in real-time and provide theinformation providing vehicle 100 with the articles, or may search formap information relating to a destination and provide the informationproviding vehicle 100 with the map information. Also, the server 500according to the present exemplary embodiment may receive statusinformation collected by the information providing vehicle 100 and maystore or manage the status information.

FIGS. 2A through 2C are diagrams illustrating communication methodsbetween the information providing vehicle 100 and the other vehicle 200.As shown in FIG. 2A, the information providing vehicle 100 and the othervehicle 200 may perform vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication. The V2Vcommunication (for example, IEEE 802.11p WAVE) may provide highmobility, and is suitable for an outdoor environment where interferencesuch as Doppler shift occurs frequently. The V2V communication isperformed between the vehicles moving at high speed, and thus, frequencyselective fading often occurs. Otherwise, the information providingvehicle 100 may communicate with the other vehicle 200 according to anad-hoc type communication method. The ad-hoc type is a type ofcommunication for transmitting data between terminals in a peer to peer(P2P) method without using an access point (AP), for example, a wirelessrouter. As shown in FIG. 2B, the information providing vehicle 100 maycommunicate with the other vehicle 200 via a cellular network. Forexample, when the information providing vehicle 100 transmits data tothe server 500 via the cellular network, the server 500 may transfer thedata transmitted from the information providing vehicle 100 to the othervehicle 200. On the contrary, the server 500 may receive data from theother vehicle 200, and may transfer the data to the informationproviding vehicle 100.

As shown in FIG. 2C, a mobile terminal 300-1 in the informationproviding vehicle 100 and a mobile terminal 300-2 in the other vehicle200 may communicate with each other via the cellular network or awireless local area network (LAN) (WiFi). In this case, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may perform short distance communication with themobile terminal 300-1 in the information providing vehicle 100. Also,the other vehicle 200 may perform short distance communication with themobile terminal 300-2 in the other vehicle 200.

The short distance communication may include a wireless LAN which may bea Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, Near Field Communication (NFC), Wi-Fi direct(WFD), or infrared data association (IrDA) network.

In addition, the information providing vehicle 100 may form a group witha plurality of other vehicles via an ad-hoc network. For example, iffour people A, B, C, and D drive their own vehicles to the samedestination, the vehicle of A, the vehicle of B, the vehicle of C, andthe vehicle of D may form a group via an ad-hoc network connection.

The information providing vehicle 100 and the plurality of othervehicles that are grouped together may share multimedia contents orinformation provided by a navigation device. The information provided bythe navigation device may include shortest route information, currentlocation information, and map information.

Also, the information providing vehicle 100 and the plurality of othervehicles that are grouped together may use common verificationinformation (for example, a common personal identification number (PIN))for security.

Hereinafter, a structure of the information providing vehicle 100 willbe described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating the information providingvehicle 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the information providing vehicle 100 according tothe present exemplary embodiment may include a status recognition device110, an output 120, and a controller 130. However, all of the componentsshown in FIG. 3A may not be essential elements. The informationproviding vehicle 100 may include more components than those of FIG. 3A,or less components than those of FIG. 3A.

Hereinafter, the above components will be described.

The status recognition device 110 may include various modules foracquiring status information inside or outside the vehicle 100. Forexample, the status recognition device 110 may include a sensor 111, acamera 112, a microphone 113, a communication device 114, and a userinput 115.

The sensor 111 may include various sensors for acquiring statusinformation in the vehicle 100. For example, the sensors may include anacceleration sensor, a tilt sensor, a gyro sensor, a 3-axis magneticsensor, a voice recognition sensor, an illumination sensor, and atemperature sensor, but is not limited thereto.

The sensor 111 may acquire status information such as fuel statusinformation, engine status information (engine status, engine oilstatus, and timing belt status information), tire information (degree oftire abrasion, air pressure, and warping status), driving speedinformation, driving direction information, and turning light statusinformation of the information providing vehicle 100.

In this case, the sensor 111 may acquire defect occurrence informationregarding the vehicle. For example, the sensor 111 may acquire defectinformation such as information that a tire is worn out more than acritical value, a pneumatic pressure of the tire is lower than acritical value, an engine oil level is less than a critical value, and abrake does not operate optimally.

Also, the sensor 111 may determine whether it is day or night by usingan illuminance sensor, and the sensor 111 may acquire a degree ofbrightness in daytime or illuminance information according to eyeorientation of the driver. The illuminance denotes a density of flux perunit area, and is represented in units of lux.

Otherwise, the sensor 111 may recognize a front vehicle by using a radarsensor.

The camera 112 is for inputting a video signal, and processes an imageframe such as a still image or a moving image obtained by using an imagesensor. The image frame processed in the camera 112 may be stored in amemory or transmitted to an external source via the communication device114. The number of cameras 112 may be two or more according to theexemplary embodiments. For example, the camera 112 may be formed as afront camera, a rear camera, a left camera, a right camera, an insidecamera, a black box camera, etc. Also, the camera 112 according to thepresent exemplary embodiment may include an infrared ray (IR) camera.

The camera 112 may acquire background information about objects,geographical features, and roads nearby the vehicle. That is, the camera112 may recognize buildings, mountains, other vehicles, pedestrians,traffic lanes, headlights, and roadside trees located within apredetermined distance range from the information providing vehicle 100.Here, the status recognition device 110 may recognize shapes or kinds ofobstacles from the background information, which interfere with thedriver seeing a target object or a target route via the transparentdisplay 121, based on the GPS information or a vision technology.

Also, the camera 112 may recognize a plate number or a make and model ofthe other vehicle 200. In addition, the camera 112 may recognize alocation of the driver's eyes (direction of sight). Here, the statusrecognition device 110 may detect and trace the eyes of the driver byusing an IR light emitting diode (LED). When the infrared LED is placedclose to an axis of a camera, the retina of the eyes, which is rich inblood, usually reflects light, and thus, the pupils of the eyes appearto be brighter than usual. This is called a “bright pupil effect,” andmay be useful in detecting and tracking the pupils of the eyes.

The microphone 113 receives an audio signal from outside and processesthe audio signal as electrical voice data. The microphone 113 mayexecute various noise reduction algorithms for removing noise generatedwhile receiving the outside audio signal.

The communication device 114 may include one or more elements enablingcommunications between the information providing vehicle 100 and theother vehicle 200, between the information providing vehicle 100 and themobile terminal 300, between the information providing vehicle 100 andthe base station 400, and between the information providing vehicle 100and the server 500. For example, the communication device 114 mayinclude a mobile communication module, a wireless internet module, ashort distance communication module, and a location information module.

The mobile communication module transmits or receives wireless signalsto or from at least one of the base station, another terminal, theserver, and the other vehicle on a mobile communication network. Thewireless internet module is a module for connecting wireless internet,and may be built-in or installed outside.

The short distance communication module is for communicating within ashort distance range and may be, for example, a Bluetooth, radiofrequency identification (RFID), infrared data association (IrDA), ultrawideband (UWB), Zigbee, near field communication (NFC), or Wi-Fi direct(WFD) based module.

Also, the location information module is for identifying or acquiring alocation of the mobile terminal and may be, for example, a GPS module.The GPS module receives location information from a plurality ofsatellites. Here, the location information may include coordinateinformation represented by latitude and longitude. The GPS module mayobtain information about the latitude, the longitude, and height,three-dimensional speed information, and accurate time information fromthe location information received from the plurality of satellites.

The communication device 114 may receive status information from outsideof the vehicle from at least one of the other vehicle 200, the mobileterminal 300, the base station 400, and the server 500. For example, thecommunication device 114 acquires information about an external vehiclefrom the base station 400, based on identification (ID) information ofthe external vehicle that is cross-certified with respect to a locationinformation exchange with the vehicle 100. The information about theexternal vehicle according to the present exemplary embodiment mayinclude at least one of route information of the external vehicle,driving speed information of the external vehicle, stoppage statusinformation of the external vehicle, traffic lane information of theexternal vehicle, and manipulation status information of the externalvehicle.

The communication device 114 may acquire destination guide information,accident information of the other vehicle 200, traffic statusinformation (for example, traffic jam information, the number of trafficlanes, road width, road classification, limited height, limited weight,etc.).

The communication device 114 requests a predetermined external vehicleto exchange location information based on ID information of the externalvehicle, and may receive an acceptance message with respect to therequest for the location information exchange from the predeterminedexternal vehicle.

The user input 115 receives data input by the driver for controllingoperations of the information providing vehicle 100. That is, the userinput 115 may acquire information set by the driver (for example,destination input information, temperature setting information in thevehicle, radio frequency setting information, etc.), and devicemanipulation information (for example, accelerator manipulationinformation, steering wheel manipulation information, brake manipulationinformation, and gear manipulation information). The user input 115 mayinclude a keypad, a dome switch, a touch pad (resistive/capacitive), ajog wheel, or a jog switch. In particular, if the touch pad and thedisplay 121, which will be described later, form a layered structure,the structure may be referred to as a touch screen. The user input 115may receive the ID information of the external vehicle for requestingthe location information exchange from the driver.

Also, the user input 115 may include a voice recognition module forreceiving a voice command of the driver. The voice recognition modulerecognizes the voice of the user by using a voice recognition engine,and transfers the recognized voice to the controller 130.

The user input 115 may exist as a remote controller. For example, aremote controller for manipulating the transparent display screen may beattached to the steering wheel. According to the present exemplaryembodiment, the remote controller may be realized as various types, forexample, an exclusive remote controller for the driver, a smartphone, amobile phone, or a tablet PC.

The output device 120 outputs an audio signal or a video signal, or analarm signal, and may include a transparent display 121, a sound outputmodule 122, and an alarm device 123.

The transparent display 121 displays and outputs the informationprocessed by the information providing vehicle 100. For example, thetransparent display 121 may display an image (user interface (UI) or agraphic user interface (GUI)) corresponding to the status informationacquired by the status recognition device 110. Here, the transparentdisplay 121 may display the image corresponding to the statusinformation based on an augmented reality mode.

An augmented reality technology shows a user a view of real objectsoverlaid with virtual objects. The augmented reality shows an image bycombining the view of real objects with a virtual image havingadditional information in real-time, and thus, may be referred to asmixed reality (MR).

The transparent display 121 may display the image corresponding to thestatus information after mapping the image to a map.

In addition, as described above, if the transparent display 121 and thetouch pad form a layered structure to configure a touch screen, thetransparent display 121 may be used as an input device, as well as theoutput device. The transparent display 121 may include at least one of aliquid crystal display (LCD), a thin film transistor (TFT) LCD, anorganic light-emitting diode (OLED), a flexible display, and athree-dimensional (3D) display. In addition, two or more transparentdisplays 121 may be disposed according to the type of the informationproviding vehicle 100. For example, the transparent display 121 may bedisposed at each of a front window, side windows, and a rear window ofthe information providing vehicle 100.

The audio output module 122 outputs audio data that is received from thecommunication device 114 or stored in a memory (not shown). Also, theaudio output module 122 outputs audio signals relating to the functionsperformed by the information providing vehicle 100 (voice guidance todestination, voice guidance about traffic status, etc.). The audiooutput module 122 may include a speaker or a buzzer.

The alarm device 123 outputs a signal for notifying about an occurrenceof an event in the information providing vehicle 100. Examples of theevent occurring in the information providing vehicle 100 may includeoccurrence of an internal defect in the vehicle, receipt of accidentinformation of other vehicles, and a lack of fuel in the vehicle. Thealarm device 123 may output a signal for notifying about the occurrenceof the event in other manners, besides the audio signal or the videosignal. For example, the alarm device 123 may output a vibration signal.

The controller 130 generally controls overall operations of theinformation providing vehicle 100. That is, the controller 130 maycontrol the status recognition device 110, and the output device 120.For example, the controller 130 may determine a display mode fordisplaying the object corresponding to the external vehicle, based onthe status information of the external vehicle. Here, the display modemay include the augmented reality mode and a map mode, but is notlimited thereto.

The controller 130 may generate an image corresponding to the statusinformation, based on the status information acquired by the statusrecognition device 110. The image corresponding to the statusinformation may include a moving picture, as well as a still image. Thecontroller 130 may generate an image corresponding to the statusinformation in the information providing vehicle 100, or outside of theinformation providing vehicle 100.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller 130 maygenerate new images in real-time, based on the status information. Also,according to another exemplary embodiment, the controller 130 mayextract previously generated images from the memory, or may edit theextracted images according to the status information, based on thestatus information. Meanwhile, the controller 130 may generate the imagecorresponding to the status information by mapping the image to a map.

The controller 130 may adjust transparency of the transparent display121 based on illuminance information outside of the informationproviding vehicle 100. For example, the controller 130 reduces thetransparency of the transparent display 121 when the illuminance is high(sunny days), and may increase the transparency of the transparentdisplay 121 when the illuminance is low (cloudy days). Also, thecontroller 130 may adjust the transparency of the transparent display121 to be different according to change in locations. In addition, ifthe transparency of the transparent display 121 is not uniform, thecontroller 130 may generate a gradation effect to represent thetransparency naturally.

Since the transparent display 121 is formed of a transparent device, thecontroller 130 may adjust the transparency of the transparent display121 by adjusting light transmittance of the transparent device oradjusting an RGB value of each pixel.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller 130 mayadjust the transparency of the transparent display 121 based onilluminance information according to an orientation of the driver'seyes. For example, if the driver drives the vehicle while facing thesunlight, the controller 130 reduces the transparency of the transparentdisplay 121, and if the driver drives the vehicle with the sun behindhis or her back, the controller 130 may increase the transparency of thetransparent display 121.

In addition, if the transparent display 121 is formed of a combinationof an OLED and an LCD, the controller 130 may maintain the transparentdisplay 121 to be transparent like a glass, and then, may set thetransparent display 121 to be opaque by applying electric power to thetransparent display 121 so that the LCD may block the light.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller 130 mayset an opaque region on a partial area or an entire area of thetransparent display 121 based on the background information outside thevehicle. For example, the controller 130 may change a color of a partialarea or the entire area of the transparent display 121 so as to improveawareness of the peripheral status, according to colors of buildings orgeographical features around the information providing vehicle 100.According to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller 130 mayset an opaque color on the transparent display 121 based on the userinput.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the controller 130 maybroadcast accident information of the information providing vehicle 100via the communication device 114.

The information providing vehicle 100 may further include a memory (notshown). The memory (not shown) may store a program for processing andcontrolling the controller 130, or may temporarily store theinput/output data (for example, the status information in the vehicle100, the status information outside of the vehicle 100, the stillimages, the moving pictures, etc.).

The memory (not shown) may include at least one type of storage mediumfrom among a flash memory type, a hard disk type, a multimedia cardmicro type, a card type memory (for example, SD or XD memory), a randomaccess memory (RAM), a static RAM (SRAM) a read only memory (ROM), anelectrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a programmable ROM(PROM), a magnetic memory, a magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Also,the information providing vehicle 100 may have a web storage functionperforming as a memory (not shown) on the Internet.

Hereinafter, the transparent display 121 according to the presentexemplary embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.3B.

The transparent display 121 may be realized in various types, forexample, a transparent LCD type display, a transparent thin filmelectroluminescent (TFEL) panel type display, a transparent OLED typedisplay, and a projection type display. Hereinafter, various examples ofthe transparent display 121 will be described.

The transparent LCD type display is a transparent display formed byremoving a backlight unit from a current LCD device and forming a pairof polarization plates, an optical film, a transparent TFT, and atransparent electrode. The transparent LCD type display has a lowtransparency due to the polarization plates or the optical film, and hasa low optical efficiency because peripheral light is used instead of thebacklight unit. However, a large-sized transparent display may berealized by using the transparent LCD.

The transparent TFEL type display is a device using an alternatingcurrent (AC) type inorganic thin film EL (AC-TFEL) display formed of atransparent electrode, an inorganic phosphor, and an insulating film.The AC-TFEL display emits light when accelerated electrons pass throughthe inorganic phosphor to excite the phosphor. If the transparentdisplay 121 is the transparent TFEL type display, the controller 130 mayadjust the electrons to be projected to an appropriate location todetermine a location displaying the information. Since the inorganicphosphor and the insulating film are transparent, the transparentdisplay having high transparency may be easily obtained.

Otherwise, the transparent OLED type display is a transparent displayusing an OLED that emits light by itself. Since an organic emissionlayer is transparent, the OLED may serve as the transparent displaydevice provided that opposite electrodes are realized as transparentelectrodes. In the OLED, electrons and holes are injected from oppositesides of the organic emission layer to be combined in the organicemission layer and emit light. The transparent OLED type display maydisplay the information by injecting the electrons and holes to desiredlocations.

FIG. 3B is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the transparentdisplay 121 formed of a transparent OLED. For convenience ofdescription, the transparent display formed as the transparent OLED typeis denoted by reference numeral 121.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the transparent display 121 includes a transparentsubstrate 121-1, a transparent transistor layer 121-2, a firsttransparent electrode 121-3, a transparent organic emission layer 121-4,a second transparent electrode 121-5, and a connection electrode 121-6.

The transparent substrate 121-1 may be formed of a polymer material thatis transparent such as plastic, or a glass material. The materialforming the transparent substrate 121-1 may be determined according toan environment where the transparent display 121 is used. For example,the polymer material is light and flexible, and thus may be applied to aportable display device. The glass material may be applied to showwindows or general windows.

The transparent transistor layer 121-2 is a layer including a transistorthat is fabricated by replacing opaque silicon used in a related art TFTwith a transparent material such as transparent zinc oxide or titaniumoxide. In the transparent transistor layer 121-2, a source, a gate, adrain, and various dielectric layers 121-7 and 121-8 are formed, and theconnection electrode 121-6 for electrically connecting the drain to thefirst transparent electrode 121-3 may be formed. Although FIG. 3B showsone transparent TFT including the source, the gate, and the drain in thetransparent transistor layer 121-3, the transparent transistor layer121-2 includes a plurality of transparent transistors that are evenlydistributed throughout the entire display surface of the transparentdisplay 121. The controller 130 applies a control signal to the gate ineach of the transistors in the transparent transistor layer 121-2 todrive the corresponding transparent transistor and display information.

The first transparent electrode 121-3 and the second transparentelectrode 121-5 are disposed at opposite sides to each other while thetransparent organic emission layer 121-4 is interposed. The firsttransparent electrode 121-3, the transparent organic emission layer121-4, and the second transparent electrode 121-5 form an OLED.

The transparent OLED may be classified as a passive matrix OLED (PMOLED)and an active matrix OLED (AMOLED) according to a driving methodthereof. The PMOLED has a structure in which points where the first andsecond transparent electrodes 121-3 and 121-5 cross each other formpixels. However, in the AMOLED, a TFT is disposed to drive each of thepixels. FIG. 3B shows the AMOLED.

Each of the first and second transparent electrodes 121-3 and 121-5includes a plurality of line electrodes that are arrangedperpendicularly to each other. For example, if the line electrodes ofthe first transparent electrode 121-3 are arranged in a horizontaldirection, the line electrodes of the second transparent electrode 121-5are arranged in a longitudinal direction. Accordingly, there are aplurality of crossing areas between the first and second transparentelectrodes 121-3 and 121-5. The transparent transistor is connected toeach of the crossing areas as shown in FIG. 3B.

The controller 130 generates a potential difference in each of thecrossing areas by using the transparent transistor. The electrons andholes are induced to the transparent organic emission layer 121-4 fromthe first and second electrodes 121-3 and 121-5 within the crossing areawhere the potential difference is generated, and then, are combined witheach other to emit light. On the other hand, the crossing area where thepotential difference is not generated does not emit light, andaccordingly, a background image of the rear surface is transmittedtherethrough.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) may be used as the first and second transparentelectrodes 121-3 and 121-5. Otherwise, a newly developed material suchas graphene may be used. Graphene is a material having ahoneycomb-shaped plane structure in which carbon atoms are connected toeach other and it also has a transparent property. Otherwise, thetransparent organic emission layer 121-4 may be formed of various othermaterials.

In addition, as described above, the transparent display 121 may beformed as the projection type display, as well as the transparent LCDtype display, the transparent TFEL type display, and the transparentOLED type display. The projection type display employs a method ofdisplaying an image by projecting the image to a transparent screen suchas a head-up display (HUD).

Hereinafter, a method of providing the driver or a passenger with statusinformation of a predetermined external vehicle via the transparentdisplay 121, performed by the information providing vehicle 100, will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing information viathe transparent display 121 according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation S410, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquirestatus information of a predetermined external vehicle. The statusinformation of the external vehicle may include at least one of locationinformation of the external vehicle, route information of the externalvehicle, driving speed information, stoppage status information, usedtraffic lane information, and turning light status information. Thepredetermined external vehicle may be a vehicle that is cross-certifiedwith respect to a location information exchange with the informationproviding vehicle 100.

The information providing vehicle 100 may receive the status informationfrom the external vehicle via a predetermined network. For example, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may receive the status information ofthe external vehicle from the external vehicle via communication betweenthe vehicles, an ad-hoc network, or a mobile communication network.Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may receive the statusinformation of the external vehicle from base stations located atroadsides.

In operation S420, the information providing vehicle 100 may determine adisplay mode for displaying an object corresponding to the externalvehicle, based on the status information of the external vehicle. Thedisplay mode may include an augmented reality mode and a map mode. Theaugmented reality mode shows an image obtained by overlaying a virtualimage with the view of reality seen from the eyes of the user. In themap mode, the status information of the external vehicle is displayed ona map to which the status information has been mapped.

In operation S430, the information providing vehicle 100 may display theobject corresponding to the external vehicle via the transparent display121 in the determined display mode.

The object corresponding to the external vehicle may include anidentification mark for distinguishing the actual external vehicle thatis observed through the transparent display 121 from other vehicles, animage for displaying a location of the external vehicle on the map, oran icon.

That is, if the external vehicle is located within an observable rangeof the user, the information providing vehicle 100 may display theidentification mark of the corresponding external vehicle on thetransparent display 121. If the external vehicle is located at adistance beyond the visible range of the user, the location of theexternal vehicle may be mapped on the map and displayed on thetransparent display 121. This will be described in more detail withreference to FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing informationaccording to the display mode, according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation S510, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquirestatus information of a predetermined external vehicle. The informationproviding vehicle 100 may determine a distance to the external vehicle200 based on the location information of the external vehicle includedin the acquired status information.

In operation S520, the information providing vehicle 100 may determinethe display mode based on the distance between the information providingvehicle 100 and the external vehicle 200. That is, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may determine the display mode according towhether the distance to the external vehicle 200 is less than apredetermined distance.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the predetermineddistance may include a visible range, in which the driver may see theexternal vehicle with his or her naked eyes. The information providingvehicle 100 may set an average visible distance as a reference fordetermining the display mode in advance. In addition, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may change the visible range according to at leastone of weather information, illuminance information, and humidityinformation. For example, when it rains or illuminance is low, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may set the visible range to be lessthan the average visible range.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may determine whether the external vehicle is located withinthe average visible range by using GPS information of the externalvehicle, map information stored in advance, and compass information.

In operation S530, if the distance between the information providingvehicle 100 and the external vehicle is less than the predeterminedrange, the information providing vehicle 100 may determine the displaymode as the augmented reality mode. For example, if the external vehicle200 is located within the visible range in which the user may see theexternal vehicle with his or her naked eyes, the information providingvehicle 100 may determine the display mode as the augmented realitymode.

In operation S540, the information providing vehicle 100 may recognizethe external vehicle 200 by using the camera. Here, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may recognize the external vehicle 200 based on atleast one of outer appearance information, make and model of thevehicle, and a plate number of the vehicle. For example, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may recognize the plate number of the externalvehicle, which is photographed by the camera, through image processing,and compare the photographed plate number with a plate number of apredetermined external vehicle stored in the memory to recognize theexternal vehicle. Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may definetemplates based on the outer appearance information of the externalvehicle (for example, a car model, a contour line of a car, etc.), andthen, compare the predefined templates with the photographed image torecognize the predetermined external vehicle.

In addition, according to the present exemplary embodiment, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may set a plurality of candidatevehicles that are recognized through the camera based on at least one ofthe outer appearance information and the plate number information. Inaddition, the information providing vehicle 100 may recognize thepredetermined external vehicle from among the plurality of candidatevehicles, based on information about the eyes of the driver or the inputinformation of the driver.

For example, when the information providing vehicle 100 selects theplurality of candidate vehicles through the vision technology, theinformation providing vehicle 100 analyzes the eyes of the driver byusing an internal sensor (for example, an internal camera) and mayrecognize a vehicle on which the eyes of the driver are focused for apredetermined time or longer as the predetermined external vehicle.

Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may display the plurality ofcandidate vehicles on the transparent display 121 so that the user mayselect one of the vehicles. When the transparent display 121 includes atouch interface, the user may touch one of the plurality of candidatevehicles displayed on the transparent display 121 to select the externalvehicle that needs to be traced. Also, the user may select thepredetermined external vehicle from the plurality of candidate vehiclesthrough the voice input.

In operation S550, the information providing vehicle 100 may display theobject corresponding to the external vehicle on the transparent display121 so that the object may overlap the actual image of the externalvehicle. The information providing vehicle 100 may display at least oneof the route information of the external vehicle, the driving speedinformation, the stoppage status information, the used traffic laneinformation, and the turning light status information on the transparentdisplay 121 to be overlapped with the actual image of the externalimage. This will be described in more detail later with reference toFIGS. 6 through 10.

In operation S560, the information providing vehicle 100 may determinethe display mode as the map mode, if the distance between theinformation providing vehicle 100 and the external vehicle is equal toor greater than the predetermined range. For example, if the externalvehicle is located at a non-visible range, at which the user may not seethe external vehicle with his/her naked eyes, the information providingvehicle 100 may determine the display mode as the map mode.

In operation S570, the information providing vehicle 100 maps the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle on a map, and displays the map onthe transparent display 121. In addition, the information providingvehicle 100 may change a scale of the map based on the distance betweenthe information providing vehicle 100 and the external vehicle. Forexample, the information providing vehicle 100 displays the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle by mapping the object to alarge-scaled map (detailed map) when the distance to the externalvehicle is reduced, and displays the object corresponding to theexternal vehicle by mapping the object to a small-scaled map (map withlittle detail) when the distance to the external vehicle is increased.This will be described in more detail later with reference to FIGS. 11Aand 11B.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may display the object corresponding to the external vehicleon the transparent display 121 by adjusting a display location or adisplay angle of the object based on the location of the driver's eyes.

The information providing vehicle 100 may change a color of the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle based on the external illuminanceinformation or illuminance information according to an orientation ofthe driver's eyes, and then, display the object on the transparentdisplay 121. For example, when the illuminance is high, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may darken the color of the object correspondingto the external vehicle, and when the illuminance is low, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may brighten the color of the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle. The information providing vehicle100 may change the color of the object corresponding to the externalvehicle based on background color.

The information providing vehicle 100 may receive information providedfrom navigation of the external vehicle and display the information. Forexample, the information providing vehicle 100 may display mapinformation of the external vehicle.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing informationabout an external vehicle that is cross-certified with respect to alocation information exchanged with the information providing vehicle100.

As shown in FIG. 6, in operation S610, the information providing vehicle100 may perform cross-certification with respect to a locationinformation exchanged with the external vehicle. For example, when twoor more vehicles move to the same destination together, the two or morevehicles may perform the cross-certification with respect to thelocation information exchanged with each other.

The information providing vehicle 100 may receive identificationinformation of the external vehicle from the driver (or the passenger).The identification information of the external vehicle may include theplate number of the external vehicle. Here, the information providingvehicle 100 may request the external vehicle to exchange the locationinformation based on the identification information of the externalvehicle. In addition, the information providing vehicle 100 may receivean acceptance message from the external vehicle. According to thepresent exemplary embodiment, the request for the location informationexchange and the receipt of the acceptance message may be performed viavarious communication methods such as communication between thevehicles, or mobile communication.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may receive a request for the location information exchangedfrom the external vehicle, and may transmit an acceptance message to theexternal vehicle.

In operation S620, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquireinformation about the external vehicle that performs thecross-certification with respect to the information exchange with theinformation providing vehicle 100.

The information about the external vehicle may include locationinformation of the external vehicle, route information of the externalvehicle, stoppage status information of the external vehicle, trafficlane information of the external vehicle, and manipulation statusinformation of the external vehicle. The manipulation status informationof the external vehicle is information about manipulating the turninglights, brakes, accelerator, steering wheel, etc., which is performed bythe driver.

The information providing vehicle 100 may acquire information about theexternal vehicle 200 from the base station 400. For example, when theinformation providing vehicle 100 transmits the identificationinformation of the external vehicle to the base station 400, the basestation 400 may provide the information providing vehicle 100 with thelocation information of the external vehicle based on the plate numberof the external vehicle. Otherwise, the information providing vehicle100 may receive information about the external vehicle from the externalvehicle or a mobile terminal of the external vehicle.

In addition, when the external vehicle is located within a predetermineddistance (for example, the external vehicle is observed by the frontcamera or a black box camera), the information providing vehicle 100 mayrecognize the plate number or model of the external vehicle by using theblack box camera or the front camera. In addition, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may acquire the location information of theexternal vehicle based on the recognized plate number or the model ofthe external vehicle.

In operation S630, the information providing vehicle 100 may display animage corresponding to the information about the external vehicle on thetransparent display 121. For example, if the external vehicle is locatedwithin a visible range of the driver of the information providingvehicle 100, the information providing vehicle 100 may display theidentification mark of the external vehicle on the transparent display121.

The identification mark of the external vehicle is a mark fordistinguishing the external vehicle that is cross-certified with respectto the location information exchanged with the information providingvehicle 100 from the other vehicles. That is, the information providingvehicle 100 may mark a contour line of the external vehicle, or maydisplay an identification image. Also, the information providing vehicle100 may display the contour line or the identification image of theexternal vehicle for regular predetermined periods.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may change at least one of a size, a display interval, and acolor of the identification mark of the external vehicle based on thedistance to the external vehicle.

However, when the external vehicle is located at an invisible distancefrom the driver of the information providing vehicle 100, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may display information about theexternal vehicle on an obstacle existing between the informationproviding vehicle 100 and the external vehicle. That is, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may display the information about the externalvehicle on the transparent display 121 as augmented reality.

Also, if the external vehicle is located beyond a predetermined distancefrom the information providing vehicle 100 (for example, when there isan obstacle between the information providing vehicle 100 and theexternal vehicle), the information providing vehicle 100 may display avirtual image of the external vehicle on the transparent display 121.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, in a case where a vehicleA follows a vehicle B to the destination, a driver of the vehicle A mayclearly distinguish the vehicle B from the other vehicles, and mayeasily identify the location information and a route of the vehicle Bvia the transparent display 121. Also, a driver of the vehicle B mayidentify the location of the vehicle A that follows the vehicle B, andthus, the driver of the vehicle B may dictate the driving speed or thetraffic lane of the vehicle A.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an object corresponding to the externalvehicle in the augmented reality mode, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 7, when the external vehicle that is cross-certifiedwith respect to the location information exchanged with the informationproviding vehicle 100 is recognized via the front camera or the blackbox camera, the information providing vehicle 100 marks a contour line710 on the external vehicle via the transparent display 121. In FIG. 7,the identification mark in the form of the contour line 710 is shown asan example of the object corresponding to the external vehicle; however,the exemplary embodiments are not limited thereto.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the driver (or thepassenger) may easily recognize (identify) the external vehicle that hasthe cross-certificate with respect to the location information exchangedwith the information providing vehicle from among the plurality ofvehicles that are observed through the front window (or the transparentdisplay 121).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flashing interval for displaying theidentification mark, according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 8, the information providing vehicle 100 may displaythe identification mark of the external vehicle as a contour line 810 onthe transparent display 121 at predetermined intervals. For example, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may display the object correspondingto the external vehicle (for example, the identification mark as acontour line 810) on the transparent display 121 at predeterminedintervals. That is, the identification mark formed as a contour line maybe flashed repeatedly on the transparent display 121 (811→812).

Here, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may change the period of flashing of the contourline 810 of the external vehicle based on the distance between theinformation providing vehicle 100 and the external vehicle. For example,the information providing vehicle 100 may reduce the period of flashingof the contour line 810 when the distance to the external vehicle isreduced. Otherwise, the information providing vehicle 100 may increasethe period of flashing of the contour line 810 when the distance to theexternal vehicle is reduced.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are diagrams showing examples of an identification markformed as an image corresponding to the external vehicle, according toan exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, when the external vehicle that has beencross-certified with respect to the location information exchange withthe information providing vehicle 100 is recognized through the frontcamera or the black box camera, the information providing vehicle 100may display an identification image 910 of the external vehicle on thetransparent display 121. FIG. 9 shows an identification image 910 formedas a car as an example of the object corresponding to the externalvehicle; however, the object corresponding to the external vehicle maybe formed to have various shapes, for example, an arrow, a star, acircle, or the like.

Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may display informationabout a distance to the external vehicle, traffic lane information ofthe external vehicle (for example, a second lane), turning lightmanipulation information, and driving speed information of the externalvehicle (for example, 30 km/h) 920 on the transparent display 121.

As shown in FIG. 10, according to the present exemplary embodiment, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may display an identification image1010 formed as a car on the transparent display 121 at predeterminedintervals. Here, according to the present exemplary embodiment, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may change the period of displayingthe identification image 1010 formed as a car based on the distancebetween the information providing vehicle 100 and the external vehicleor the driving speed of the information providing vehicle 100.

FIGS. 11A and 11B are diagrams showing an object corresponding to theexternal vehicle in a map mode, according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, in a case where the external vehicle islocated at an invisible distance from the driver (for example, 1 kmahead), the information providing vehicle 100 may display an image 1110representing a location of the external vehicle on a map. Here, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may change a scale of the map based onthe distance between the information providing vehicle 100 and theexternal vehicle.

For example, the information providing vehicle 100 may increase thescale of the map when the external vehicle is 400 m ahead (FIG. 11B) tobe greater than when the external vehicle 1110 is 1 km ahead (FIG. 11A).

Therefore, the information providing vehicle 100 may display the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle after mapping the object to thelarge-scaled map when the distance to the external vehicle is reduced.Then, when the external vehicle is close enough to be seen by thedriver, the information providing vehicle 100 may display the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle (for example, the identificationimage) to overlap with the actual image of the external vehicle.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a screen providing information about theexternal vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 12, if there is an obstacle (for example, a building)exists between the information providing vehicle 100 and the externalvehicle and the external vehicle is not recognized by the front cameraor the black box camera of the information providing vehicle 100, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may display the information about theexternal vehicle on the obstacle through the transparent display 121.For example, if the external vehicle that is being followed by theinformation providing vehicle 100 is hidden by the building, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may display the location of theexternal vehicle on the transparent display 121.

In FIG. 12, the information providing vehicle 100 may represent thelocation of the external vehicle by using an arrow 1220. That is, theexternal vehicle is located at a right side of the arrow 1220. Also, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may display information such as thedriving speed of the external vehicle (30 km/h), the traffic lane usedby the external vehicle (a second lane) (1210), and the distance to theexternal vehicle (for example, 900 m) 1240 on the transparent display121. The information providing vehicle 100 may represent that theexternal vehicle has turned on the right-side turning light by showing aright side of the arrow 1220 as white, on the transparent display 121.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may trace another vehicle that was not cross-certified forexchanging the location information with the information providingvehicle 100. For example, if the information providing vehicle 100 is apolice car, the information providing vehicle 100 may unilaterally trackthe other vehicle that violates traffic rules.

Here, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may photograph the number plate and shape of thetracked vehicle by using the black box camera or the front camera. Inaddition, the information providing vehicle 100 may recognize numbersand letters on the photographed plate by using an image processingtechnology, and may store the numbers and letters of the plate in adatabase. Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may recognize themodel of the photographed vehicle by using the image processingtechnology, and may store the car model in the database.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may recognize the tracked vehicle based on the car model orthe number plate, and display an identification mark of the trackedvehicle on the transparent display 121. Therefore, according to thepresent exemplary embodiment, the information providing vehicle 100 maytrack the other vehicle easily.

In addition, according to another exemplary embodiment, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may receive a plate number of the tracked vehiclefrom an external source. In this case, the information providing vehicle100 may transmit the plate number to the peripheral base station 400.

In addition, the information providing vehicle 100 may receive thelocation of the tracked vehicle based on the number of the vehicle asGPS information from the base station 400. Here, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may display the location of the tracked vehicle onthe transparent display 121 based on the GPS information of the trackedvehicle.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing destinationguide information, accident information of other vehicles, and trafficstatus information, according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation S1310, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquiredestination guide information. That is, when receiving destinationinformation from the driver (or the passenger), the informationproviding vehicle 100 may search for route guide information to thedestination. According to the present exemplary embodiment, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may receive the destination guideinformation from the base station 400 or the server 500.

The destination guide information according to the present exemplaryembodiment may include location information of the destination,information about a distance to the destination, information about aroute to the destination, speed limit information, and speed camerainformation.

In operation S1320, the information providing vehicle 100 may display animage corresponding to the destination guide information on thetransparent display 121. Here, according to the present exemplaryembodiment, the information providing vehicle 100 may display thedestination guide information in the augmented reality mode or the mapmode.

In operation S1330, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquireaccident information of another vehicle 200. If the other vehicle 200 isinvolved in a traffic accident, the other vehicle 200 may transmit theaccident information to the base station 400 or the server 500.Therefore, the information providing vehicle 100 may receive theaccident information of the other vehicle 200 from the base station 400or the server 500. According to another exemplary embodiment, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may directly receive the accidentinformation from the other vehicle 200 via a vehicle to vehicle (V2V)communication network.

The accident information according to the present exemplary embodimentmay include a location where the accident occurs, a traffic lane inwhich the accident occurred, a detour route, and a time when theaccident occurred.

In operation S1340, the information providing vehicle 100 may display animage corresponding to the accident information of the other vehicle 200on the transparent display 121. For example, the information providingvehicle 100 may display an image corresponding to at least one of theinformation about the location where the accident occurred, theinformation about the traffic lane in which the accident occurred, andthe detour information on the transparent display 121.

In operation S1350, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquiretraffic status information. The traffic status information according tothe present exemplary embodiment may include traffic jam information,the number of lanes, a width of the road, road classification, limitedheight, and limited weight.

In operation S1360, the information providing vehicle 100 may display animage corresponding to the traffic status information on the transparentdisplay 121.

According to the exemplary embodiments, an order of the operations S1310through S1360 may be changed, and some of the operations may be omitted.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a screen displaying an image correspondingto the accident information of another vehicle, according to anexemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 14, the information providing vehicle 100 may displaythe accident information of the other vehicle 200 on the transparentdisplay 121. That is, the information providing vehicle 100 may displaya message 1410 such as “there is a three-car rear-end accident 1 kmahead, about 30 minutes to destination” or an image on the transparentdisplay 121. Here, the information providing vehicle 100 may mark thelocation where the accident occurred by using an arrow, and may displaythe traffic lane (for example, a second lane) where the accidentoccurred.

Therefore, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the driver mayidentify the accident information of the other vehicle 200 rapidly, anddeal with the accident promptly. For example, the driver may search fora detour, or change to another traffic lane before reaching the accidentlocation.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a screen mapping the accident informationof the other vehicle 200 to a map.

As shown in FIG. 15, the information providing vehicle 100 may displaythe accident information of the other vehicle 200 (the location of theaccident, the details of the accident, a time to the accident location,and the time when the accident occurred, etc.) (1510) after mapping theinformation to the map on the transparent display 121.

Here, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may receive the accident information of the othervehicle 200 mapped to the map from the server 500.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an information providing methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 16, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquirestatus information in or outside the information providing vehicle 100(S1610).

For example, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquire thestatus information in the vehicle, for example, fuel status information,engine status information, tire information, location information of theinformation providing vehicle 100, driving speed information, drivingdirection information, turning light status information, temperatureinformation, humidity information, and information about the driver(location of the drivers' eyes, drowsiness information, and alcohollevel information).

Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquire the statusinformation outside the vehicle 100, for example, background informationabout objects or geographical features outside the vehicle, illuminanceinformation, accident information of the other vehicle 200, trafficstatus information, destination information, and information about anexternal vehicle having a cross-certificate for exchanging the locationinformation with the information providing vehicle 100.

Here, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may receive the status information outside thevehicle 100 from the other vehicle 200, the mobile terminal 300, thebase station 400, or the server 500.

The information providing vehicle 100 may generate an imagecorresponding to the status information based on the acquired statusinformation (S1620).

That is, the information providing vehicle 100 may analyze the acquiredstatus information. For example, the information providing vehicle 100may determine whether remaining fuel is less than a predetermined levelbased on the fuel status information, and may determine whether there isa defect in the vehicle and may detect a defective location in thevehicle based on the engine status information and the tire statusinformation.

Here, the information providing vehicle 100 may generate an imagecorresponding to the status information based on a result of analyzingthe acquired status information. For example, if it is determined thatthe vehicle 100 lacks fuel as a result of the analyzing, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may generate an image corresponding to gas stationinformation (location of the gas station, price, etc.).

Also, when receiving information about the destination from the driver,the information providing vehicle 100 may generate an imagecorresponding to the destination guide information (route, trafficlanes, the speed limit, etc.).

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may display the image corresponding to the statusinformation on the transparent display 121 of the information providingvehicle 100 (S1630).

Therefore, the driver may identify the status information in the vehicleor the statue information outside of the vehicle while observing a realview through the transparent display 121. Therefore, according to thepresent exemplary embodiment, distraction of the driver's eyes duringdriving may be prevented, and the driver may recognize rapidly andeasily the status information in or outside the vehicle.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may adjust a location or an angle of displaying the imagecorresponding to the status information in or outside the vehicle 100 onthe transparent display 121, based on the location of the driver's eyes.

For example, when the information providing vehicle 100 displays anidentification mark of a certain building that is observed by the driveron the transparent display 121, the information providing vehicle 100may adjust the location or angle of the identification mark inconsideration of the location of the driver's eyes, so that the drivermay recognize that the identification mark precisely overlaps with thecertain building.

In addition, the information providing vehicle 100 may adjust a size, adisplaying interval, and a color of the image corresponding to thestatus information in or outside the vehicle, based on the driving speedof the information providing vehicle 100.

For example, the information providing vehicle 100 may increase the sizeof the image corresponding to the status information, may reduce thedisplay interval, or may change the color of the image from blue to red,when the driving speed of the information providing vehicle 100increases.

The information providing vehicle 100 according to the present exemplaryembodiment may display the image corresponding to the status informationinside or outside the vehicle 100 in the augmented reality mode. Also,the information providing vehicle 100 may display the status informationabout environmental conditions inside or outside of the vehicle 100 onthe transparent display 121 after mapping the status information to amap.

The information providing vehicle 100 according to the present exemplaryembodiment may adjust transparency of the transparent display 121according to illuminance information outside the vehicle 100. Forexample, when the illuminance outside the vehicle 100 is high due tosunlight or headlights of a vehicle in front, the information providingvehicle 100 lowers the transparency of part or all of the transparentdisplay. In addition, when the illuminance is low, the informationproviding vehicle 100 improves the transparency of the transparentdisplay 121 so that the user may observe the outside of the vehicle 100.

In addition, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquireilluminance information according to the orientation of the driver'seyes. The information providing vehicle 100 may acquire the illuminanceinformation according to the orientation of the driver's eyes inconsideration of the driving direction, and location of the sun at thecurrent time.

For example, if the driver drives while facing the sun, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may reduce the transparency of the transparentdisplay 121.

The information providing vehicle 100 according to the present exemplaryembodiment may set a partial or an entire region of the transparentdisplay 121 to be opaque, based on the background information outsidethe vehicle 100.

Hereinafter, a method of providing information that may not be observeddirectly by the driver through the transparent display 121 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 17 through 19.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing informationabout something that is invisible to the driver through the transparentdisplay 121, according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 17, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquirebackground information about an environment around the vehicle 100(S1710). For example, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquireinformation about buildings, other vehicles, roadside trees, streetlamps, traffic lanes, and geographical features that are located withina predetermined distance from the vehicle 100.

Here, according to the present exemplary embodiment, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may acquire the background information by using avision technology. The information providing vehicle 100 photographs theroad by using the camera, and may extract features such as traffic lineson the road, road signs, other vehicles, and pedestrians by using anedge detection method, a frequency based detection method, or a templatebased detection method. For example, the information providing vehicle100 may recognize the other vehicle 200 by using features such as a carhaving a symmetric feature, a shadow zone being formed under the car, arear portion of the car being generally square-shaped, and there being alot of edges.

Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may define templates inadvance based on the number plates, rear windows, and headlights seen atnight, and may compare the image taken by the camera with the templatesthat are defined in advance to recognize the other vehicle 200.

In addition, the information providing vehicle 100 may recognizeperipheral objects by using a stereo vision method which configures 3Dinformation about the driving environment in front of the vehicle 100 ora motion analyzing method using an image sequence.

The information providing vehicle 100 may determine whether there is anobstacle between the information providing vehicle 100 and a targetobject (S1720). The target object may denote a building at thedestination set by the driver, a destination location, a route to thedestination, or a point of interest (POI) (for example, a gas station ora car repair shop).

The obstacle denotes an object that is located between the informationproviding vehicle 100 and the target object, which interferes with thedriver observing the target object with his or her naked eyes throughthe transparent display 121. For example, the obstacle may denote abuilding, the other vehicle, or a mountain. The obstacle according tothe present exemplary embodiment may be extracted from the backgroundinformation around the vehicle, which is obtained by using the camera.

The information providing vehicle 100 may recognize a location of theobstacle by using the GPS information of the vehicle 100, the GPSinformation of the target object, the map information, or the compassinformation. Also, the information providing vehicle 100 may recognizethe kind or shape of the obstacle by using the vision technology.

When recognizing the obstacle, the information providing vehicle 100 maydisplay the information about the target object on the obstacle (S1730).That is, the information providing vehicle 100 may display theinformation about the target object on the transparent display 121 inthe augmented reality mode.

If there is no obstacle, the information providing vehicle 100 maydisplay the identification mark of the target object that is recognizedby the front camera or the black box camera on the transparent display121 in the augmented reality mode (S1740).

FIGS. 18 and 19 are diagrams showing a screen of displaying roadinformation on an obstacle according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 18, when a destination route is hidden by a vehicle infront of the information providing vehicle 100, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may display the destination route 1810 on thefront vehicle through the transparent display 121. That is, theinformation providing vehicle 100 displays the destination route 1810that may not be directly checked by the driver due to the front vehicleon the transparent display 121 so that the driver may identify thedestination route 1810 easily.

If the destination route 1810 may interfere with the driving or the viewof the driver, the information providing vehicle 100 may display thedestination route 1810 on the transparent display 121 as dotted lines ora semi-transparent status, or may flash the destination route 1810 atpredetermined intervals.

As shown in FIG. 19, if there is a right-turn road 1910 behind theobstacle, the information providing vehicle 100 may denote theright-turn road 1910 on the transparent display 121 as dotted lines.

Hereinafter, the method of providing information corresponding to eachstatus occurring in or outside the vehicle will be described.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing informationabout a gas station, according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation S2010, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquirefuel status information in the vehicle 100. According to the presentexemplary embodiment, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquirethe fuel status information at regular intervals.

In operation S2020, the information providing vehicle 100 may analyzethe fuel status information to determine whether remaining fuel is lessthan a predetermined level.

In operation S2030, if the remaining fuel is equal to or less than apredetermined level, the information providing vehicle 100 may searchfor gas stations that the vehicle 100 may reach with the remaining fuel.That is, the information providing vehicle 100 searches for the gasstations that the vehicle 100 may reach with the remaining fuel, basedon fuel efficiency information and the fuel status information.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 may receive information about gas stations located within apredetermined distance, from the base station 400. Otherwise, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may transmit the fuel statusinformation and the current location information to the server 500, andmay receive the information about the gas stations that the vehicle 100may reach with the remaining fuel.

In operation S2040, the information providing vehicle 100 may displaythe information about the gas stations on the transparent display 121.The information about the gas station may include a location of the gasstation, a distance to the gas station, a sign of the gas station, priceof the fuel used in the information providing vehicle 100, a route toenter the gas station, and telephone number of the gas station.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a screen displaying information about a gasstation located at distance from the driver that makes it invisible tohim or her, according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 21, if a found gas station AAA is located 1.5 km aheadand the driver may not see the gas station AAA directly through thefront window due to the vehicles ahead, the information providingvehicle 100 may display the information about the gas station AAA (2110)on the transparent display 121 in the augmented reality mode.

If the information providing vehicle 100 uses diesel fuel, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may display the price of the dieselfuel in the gas station AAA (1800 or $0.00) on the transparent display121.

FIGS. 22A and 22B are diagrams showing information about an essentialgas station.

The essential gas station is a gas station where the informationproviding vehicle 100 has to stop according the amount of remainingfuel. For example, it is assumed that the information providing vehicle100 may only travel 2 km with the remaining fuel as a result of acalculation based on the fuel efficiency information and the fuel statusinformation of the information providing vehicle 100. Here, when the gasstation AAA is located 0.5 km ahead and a next gas station, that is, agas station BBB, is located 3 km ahead, the information providingvehicle 100 may display that the gas station AAA is the last gas stationthat the information providing vehicle 100 may reach with the remainingfuel on the transparent display 121.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 22A, in a case where the driver directlyobserves the gas station, the information providing vehicle 100 maydisplay an identification mark 2210 on the essential gas station throughthe transparent display 121. The identification mark 2210 of theessential gas station is a sign for distinguishing the essential gasstation from other objects.

Also, as shown in FIG. 22B, the information providing vehicle 100 maydisplay the identification mark 2210 of the essential gas station on thetransparent display 121 at predetermined intervals. Here, theinformation providing vehicle 100 may adjust the interval of displayingthe identification mark 2210 according to the driving speed or thedistance to the essential gas station. For example, if the driving speedis high or the distance to the gas station is reduced, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may flash the identification mark 2210 quickly.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing an imagecorresponding to defect information regarding the vehicle 100, accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

In operation S2310, the information providing vehicle 100 may acquiredefect occurrence information regarding the vehicle 100. For example,the information providing vehicle 100 may acquire defect informationregarding the vehicle such as that the tire is worn away more than acritical value, pneumatic pressure in the tire is less than a criticallevel, the engine oil is lower than a critical level, or the brake doesnot operate optimally, based on the engine status information and thetire information.

In operation S2320, the information providing vehicle 100 may displayinformation about the defect occurrence on the transparent display 121.For example, if the pneumatic pressure in the tire is less than thecritical value, the information providing vehicle 100 may display animage of tire on the transparent display 121.

In operation S2330, the information providing vehicle 100 may determinewhether a defective part may be repaired. In operation S2340, if thedefective part is repairable, the information providing vehicle 100 maysearch for a car repair shop. For example, if the degree of abrasion ofthe tire is equal to or greater than the critical value, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may search for a tire shop.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the information providingvehicle 100 transmits information about the defective part and locationinformation thereof to the base station 400 or the server 500, and then,may receive information about a found car repair shop from the basestation 400 or the server 500.

In operation S2350, the information providing vehicle 100 may displayinformation about the found car repair shop. The information about thefound car repair shop may include identification information (name),location information of the found car repair shop, repair estimation,phone number of the found car repair shop, and a route to enter the carrepair shop. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 24and 25.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a screen displaying information about thedefective part in the vehicle 100, according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 24, if the engine oil is equal to or less than acritical level, the information providing vehicle 100 may display awarning message 2410 or a warning image 2420 on the transparent display121. In addition, when a search request of the car repair shop is inputfrom the driver (or the passenger), the information providing vehicle100 may search for car repair shops located within a predetermineddistance from the current location.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a screen displaying information about thecar repair shop according to an exemplary embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 25, when a car repair shop is found, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may display information about the car repair shop(for example, a message read as “Car repair shop AAA located 15 km apartfrom here”) 2510 on the transparent display 121. Also, the informationproviding vehicle 100 may further display price information of engineoil replacement in the car repair shop AAA on the transparent display121.

In addition, if the found car repair shop is recognized by the frontcamera or the black box camera (that is, if the driver may observe thefound car repair shop through the front window or the transparentdisplay 121), the information providing vehicle 100 may display anidentification mark of the car repair shop on the transparent display121.

The above exemplary embodiments may be implemented in the form ofexecutable program commands through a variety of computer means andrecorded on computer readable media. The computer readable media mayinclude solely or in combination, program commands, data files and datastructures. The program commands recorded on the media may be componentsspecially designed for the present exemplary embodiment or may be usableby one of ordinary skill in the art of computer software. Computerreadable recording media include magnetic media such as a hard disk, afloppy disk, and a magnetic tape, optical media such as a CD-ROM and aDVD, magneto-optical media such as a floppy disk and hardware devicessuch as ROM, RAM and flash memory specially designed to store and carryout programs. Program commands include not only machine language codegenerated by a compiler but also high level code that can be used by aninterpreter etc., which is executed by a computer.

While the application has been particularly shown and described withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the exemplary embodiments as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing information about anexternal vehicle on a head up display (HUD) of a vehicle, the methodcomprising: receiving status information of the external vehicle fromthe external vehicle; determining a distance between the vehicle and theexternal vehicle based on the status information of the externalvehicle; controlling the HUD to display an object corresponding to theexternal vehicle on a map image, when the determined distance is greaterthan or equal to a predetermined distance; and controlling the HUD todisplay the object corresponding to the external vehicle to overlap withthe external vehicle using an augmented reality technology, when thedetermined distance is less than the predetermined distance.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the status information of the externalvehicle comprises at least one of location information of the externalvehicle, route information, driving speed information, stoppage statusinformation, used traffic lane information, and turning lightmanipulation status information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thepredetermined distance comprises a visible distance, from which a driverof the vehicle is capable of seeing the external vehicle with naked eye.4. The method of claim 1, when the determined distance is less than thepredetermined distance, the method further comprising: recognizing theexternal vehicle by using a camera based on at least one of outerappearance information and plate number information of the externalvehicle; and displaying the object corresponding to the external vehicleon the HUD so that the object corresponding to the external vehicleoverlaps the actual image of the external vehicle.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein the recognizing of the external vehicle comprises:selecting a plurality of candidate vehicles that are recognized throughthe camera based on at least one of the outer appearance information andthe plate number information; and recognizing the external vehicle fromamong the plurality of candidate vehicles based on eye information of adriver or input information of the driver.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the HUD is configured to operate to display the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle on the map image after mapping theobject to a map, when the determined distance is greater than or equalto a predetermined distance.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the HUDis configured to operate to change a scale of the map based on thedistance between the vehicle and the external vehicle after the mappingof the object.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: recognizinga location of a driver's eyes; and adjusting a display location or anangle of the object corresponding to the external vehicle, based on thelocation of the driver's eyes.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theexternal vehicle comprises a vehicle having a cross-certificate forexchanging location information with the vehicle.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving identification information of theexternal vehicle; requesting the external vehicle to exchange locationinformation based on the identification information of the externalvehicle; and receiving an acceptance message with respect to the requestfor exchanging the location information from the external vehicle. 11.The method of claim 1, further comprising: acquiring illuminanceinformation outside the vehicle or illuminance information according toa direction of eyes of a driver of the vehicle; and changing a color ofthe object corresponding to the external vehicle and displaying theobject, based on the illuminance information outside the vehicle or theilluminance information according to the direction of the driver's eyes.12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving and displayinginformation provided by a navigation device of the external vehicle fromthe external vehicle.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:acquiring defect occurrence information regarding the vehicle; searchingfor a car repair shop to repair a defective part, based on the defectoccurrence information; and displaying information about a found carrepair shop on the HUD.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:displaying an image corresponding to at least one of information about alocation where an accident occurred, accident occurring timeinformation, accident occurring traffic lane information, and detourinformation on the HUD.
 15. An apparatus for providing information aboutan external vehicle on a head up display (HUD), the apparatuscomprising: a communication device configured to receive statusinformation of the external vehicle from the external vehicle; and aprocessor configured to: determine a distance between the vehicle andthe external vehicle based on the status information of the externalvehicle; control the HUD to display an object corresponding to theexternal vehicle on a map image, when the determined distance is greaterthan or equal to a predetermined distance; and control the HUD todisplay the object corresponding to the external vehicle to overlap withthe external vehicle using an augmented reality technology, when thedetermined distance is less than the predetermined distance.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the predetermined distance comprises avisible distance from which a driver of the vehicle is capable of seeingthe external vehicle with naked eye, and the processor is configured toadjust the visible distance based on at least one of weatherinformation, illuminance information, and humidity information.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:recognize a location of a driver's eyes; and control the HUD to adjust adisplay location or an angle of the object corresponding to the externalvehicle, based on the location of the driver's eyes.
 18. The apparatusof claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to: receiveidentification information of the external vehicle from a driver via auser interface; request the external vehicle to exchange locationinformation with the vehicle; and receive an acceptance message withrespect to the request for exchanging the location information from theexternal vehicle via the communication device.
 19. The apparatus ofclaim 15, wherein, when a level of remaining fuel is equal to or lessthan a predetermined level, the processor is further configured to:search for a gas station that the vehicle is capable of reaching withthe remaining fuel; and display information about the searched gasstation on the HUD.
 20. A computer program product comprising a computerreadable storage medium having a computer readable program storedtherein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on acomputing device of a vehicle, causes the computing device to: receivestatus information of an external vehicle from the external vehicle;determine a distance between the vehicle and the external vehicle basedon the status information of the external vehicle; control a head updisplay (HUD) to display an object corresponding to the external vehicleon a map image, when the determined distance is greater than or equal toa predetermined distance; and control the HUD to display the objectcorresponding to the external vehicle to overlap with the externalvehicle using an augmented reality technology, when the determineddistance is less than the predetermined distance.